March 30th

TODAY IS:

NATIONAL PENCIL DAY – I never thought a pencil should be celebrated but now that it is Pencil Day, I am going through some of my memories of great times using pencils.

As a kid, we used a pencil in school until we got a pen license. Like riding a tricycle, the pencil taught us the basics but it ultimately ‘lead’ us (hahaha get it?) to the bicycle of script … the pen.

My dad always kept fat pencils in his workbench and I used to be fascinated by his ability to sharpen them with his penknife. I especially liked the ones that had the piece of paper that unraveled at the tip.

I discovered the mechanical pencil in high school. It was a dream come true … no sharpening with constant clicking options. Good times. I also discovered that I prefer the 0.7mm lead.

When I studied engineering, we were required to learn drafting. We used a number of pencils, including the HB, 2B, 2H, and 4H. We had to know which pencil was used for which part of the drawing and we kept them very sharp. Pencils were our best friends in drafting … and calculus!

I use pencils constantly in my artwork and have a whole container that belonged to my dad. I love those pencils.

I have a few unsharpened pencils in my kitchen container right now and always seem to grab them first. It is time to sharpen them and respect their long history in my life.